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Recommended China Books

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

Since first taking Chinese classes in the late 80s I have read and accumulated a large collection of books on China. Most are in storage in California, unable to join me in China. I try not to think about them too much, but…

Every year there are more and more books written about China, so many that there is no way to read all of them now. I am starting a new, ocasional feature for this blog in which I will post reviews of books I enjoyed, both old and new.

I am starting with a list of mostly older China books that are still worth reading. This first list originally appeared on the ChuanChaunr China Books blog over a month ago. The books are listed in no particular order.

Mr. China: A Memoir-Tim Clissold
Hilarious account of auto parts investment fund Asimco and its incineration of hundreds of millions of dollars. The stories may be a decade old but are still very relevant today.

A prescient work that was criticized and/or ignored by most of the Sinology and foreign policy establishment. Sadly, much of what Mann argued is now seen as mainstream, even if few people give him credit. This book should be paired with McGregor’s “The Party”.

The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei, Vol 1-3-Translated by David Tod Roy
Banned almost continuously since its appearance, this book is famous as an erotic novel but is actually much more a commentary on the decline of the Ming Empire. Some scholars argue it is perhaps the best Chinese historical novel after “Dream of the Red Chamber”. Roy’s translation is masterful, but at close to 2000 pages most people will prefer the Cliff Notes version.